Reality
by ehb1998yahoo.com
Summary: Times have gotten tough, and a war occurs in the United States. A particular group of kids didn't think what happened was ever possibly until they saw it with their own eyes. This is set in the present.
1. Slow Motion

Gun shots. Yelling. Screaming. Crying.

These are all things I never expected to hear on June 3rd, 2020.

My birthday. It would become the worst day of my life. And it could have been my last if I hadn't been saved.

Everything seemed as if it was in slow motion, and at times I felt like I didn't hear anything at all.

I was running through the hallway upstairs, past screaming kids and teachers, people from the army with guns. Terror.

I was too fast. I reached the stairs and descended them and ran towards the front door of my school, my hand outstretched, when someone strong started dragging me backwards, with me kicking and screaming in dispair.

They were dragging me down another hallway, one completely deserted. They whipped open one of the closet doors, threw me inside, and slammed it shut leaving me in the dark. That's when everything started going in normal speed. I heard gunshots coming from upstairs and screams of terror. I put my hands overmy ears sobbing. I weakly cried for help, which was pointless.

I stayed there crying until I fell asleep.


	2. Not Sure What Happened

I woke up groggily, feeling around the dark room I was in.

I found a switch and turned it on. It didn't work. I groaned. I sat up and felt for a door, and smiled when I felt the handle. I turned it open cautiously.

Luckily, the hallway wasn't too dark. It was just dim, with the help of the light from the big windows seeping in.

I was in a state of shock. I wasn't thinking about anything except finding someone at the time.

I jiggled the handle of a classroom door, and found it to be locked. I jerked my hand away, annoyed. The next door was wide open, with papers strewn across the room.

I frowned. Noone was in there.

I checked about ten rooms in that hallway, all of them were empty, until I heard the sound of someone walking behind me. I turned quickly, and saw a younger girl I didn't know, with short blonde hair and thick framed glasses. She was really skinny, and looked pleased to see me.

I sighed happily. I found what I wanted.

"I'm so happy! We've been looking for more people." she breathed.

"I've been looking for people. But who's 'we'? The 'we' you're talking about?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

"There's more kids. Survivors." She said smiling.

"Survivors?" I asked, confused.

"Were you here when the attack happened?" She asked almost suspiciously.

I out my head down rubbing my temples. That's when it all came back to me. Our school was attacked. Ambushed. We were the only survivors. Me, the girl with the glasses and whoever else she found.


	3. Even When We're In This Situation

The girl with brown hair and glasses led me to the cafeteria.

When she pushed it open, I couldn't help but gasp at what I saw.

About fifteen kids were sort of camping out in there, and they all turned towards me and stood up clapping. I took a step back. Why were they so happy?

The girl next to me smiled proudly, and explained. "We've been looking for survivors, like I said earlier, and everyone is so happyto see we've found someone: you."

I bit my lip nervously. "So, this is everyone?" I asked.

She frowned. "Yeah, unfortunately. Well, when Alex comes back we'll know for sure, but yeah. No teachers, noone. This is war, not just a school shooting. It's happened in the entire city. The entire state." She paused.

"The whole country actually." She said.

I gaped. Then my heart pounded. Where was my family?

"So, is this the only froup of survivors in-"

"Yes. That's what we think. We've been looking around town, and found noone. Unless another group like us are keeping a low profile, which we understand." She explained.

"What's your name?" I asked.

"Carla," She smiled.

"Okay. I'm Alyson. But Carla, something you should know is if there's danger outside, we shouldn't be here. We should be in a more concealed room." I explained. It was true!

She smiled, tilting her head. "Oh, don't worry, we've got that covered. We blacked out the windows, if you haven't noticed. And if one of the people looking out sees someone dangerous, they give us the signal and we go into the kitchen and hide." She said.

"Wow, you have a lot of stuff figured out." I breathed.

"Yes. We don't want anything bad to happen." Carla was like a mother. A leader. I admired her for that.

"Are there any rules?"

"Yes. Several. One is, you should never leave the cafeteria, let alone the school, without Talia's persmission. She's the boss. And also, if you do anything that harms anyone else, you either are forced into exile from the school, are beaten, etc. It all depends on what Talia thinks. And lastly, if you fail Talia's orders, you are forced to work for her or do anything she tells you. Okay?" Carla said all this so mattter-of-factly, it made me shudder.

"O-okay." I stuttered. These were horrible consequences, the ones this Talia created. I decided right away I didn't like her.

"Good." Carla smiled. I wasn't even sure if I liked her. She seemed to agree with Talia's rules, and I didn't like Talia.

"Where is Talia?" I asked.

"She's here." Carla pointed to a large green tent in the back of the cafeteria, and a tall brown haired girl stepped out, arms folded, a devilish grin. I knew her. That's when I remembered.

Talia used to be my best friend.

My mouth dropped. "Talia?" I asked.

"Alyson. Nice seeing you. Haven't seen you in awhile." She said darkly. I shivered. Something happened between Talia and I a couple years ago that I never speak of. That situation of course drove us apart, massively. She moved away a couple months later anyways, but I wasn't sure why she was here now...

"What, uh, are you doing here?" I asked skeptically, but with an edge.

"I came back, dumbass. I came looking for Taylor, you know, one of our old friends? Well, I wasn't really sure why I even bothered finding her, but when I came here, the bitch was dead anyways. You still friends?" She asked.

Tears stung my eyes. My best friend was dead? "We were. We were best friends. But now she's dead, according to you?" I shot at her, and she raised her pencil-thin eybrows, smiling.

"Yep! Dead. Looked like roadkill. In the middle of the math wing." She smirked.

"How could you day that? Even in this situation how could you be such a bitch?" I seethed. Carla gasped, and the rest of the kids gasped together as well. I glared at Talia.

She smiled her devilish grin. "Because I'm the boss. Let that sink in. You're lower than me, you've always been. Time for the light to shine on me." She said coldly. I shook my head, letting the tears fall silently.

"I can't believe you." I said hopelessly. I felt like a baby. I needed to be the tough Alyson I once was. Why was I so weak all of a sudden?

"Well, believe it. And by the way, you sleep on the floor." She said, and whipped a dirty sleeping bag at me, which I caught.

I nodded.

"Right there." She pointed. I laid it out and sat down on it, pulling my knees up to my chin.

"Good." She cooed. I flinched.

"Carla?" Her voice got all soft. Carla smiled brightly at the bitch.

"Yes, Talia?"

"Where's Dominic? I need him back." She snapped.

"Don't worry Talia, he's upstairs looking for anyone else. I can always go get him if you'd like." She said calmly.

"Fine. And yes, go get him." Talia swatted at the air, turned her heel, and headed towards her large tent. She turned towards all the other kids. "Well don't just stand there! Do something! And be quiet." She crawled into her tent, and everyone except me began whispering.

I turned and looked at the group of kids and immediately recongized many of them. One being one of my other best friends.


	4. Do It My Way

Talia sent me out to look for survivors with Carla and this sophomore kid named Darren, but i decided I would do things my way, not hers.

If she wanted to be a bitch, then she'd be treated like one.

"Carla, can I ask you an honest question?"

Carla peered at me through her glasses, smiling happily.

"Do you honestly like following Talia's rules?"

She frowned, then shook her head smiling. "Alyson, you are one silly girl. Of course I do."

"Honestly?"

Darren grunted. I looked at his sad face, and could tell he didn't like Talia any more than I did. So basically if our brains worked the same way he thought of her as dog shit.

"You disagree?"

He grunted and shrugged. He was a small, skinny tan kid with a black buzz cut. He looked pretty sad and depressed which I understand. He probably lost a lot of people, just as many as I did. Which led me to flinch when it crossed my mind...

"Alyson, Talia a fantastic, protective leader who I am gladly working for and completely willing to do anything for, that is why I am here." She beamed. "Talia will keep us safe, and judging by her performance in being a leader so far, my hope and will power only grows stronger. Therefore, I absolutely agree with her regulations."  
She planted her hand on her heart, smiling widely, making me smirk, shake my head, and stroll past her.

"Alyson? Come back." I began running through the halls, and I turned my head ever so slightly to see Carla running like a skinny, blondehaired madman, and Darren planted at the end of the hall staring at his feet.

"I'm doing this shit my way. You'll thank me later."

To my surprise, Carla had a change of attitude. She stopped in the middle of the hallway panting, and said, "Okay Alyson, you win."

I raised my eyebrows and turned the corner, and braced myself before pushing the front door of the school open.

Sunlight made me squint as it filled the hall, and I rubbed my eyes and scanned the horrifying area.

It looked like a bomb went off, it was so devestating.

The worst part was the smell, like things were rotting. Bodies. That's what it was. I clasped my hand over my mouth and ran down the sidewalk, looking down the street.

No cars obviously. Well, overturned cars and smashed up cars. No cars that were driving.

I strolled across the street, and winced everytime I saw a dead body.

It was too much for me to handle, so I turned around and bent over by some bushes, and threw up a ton of acid.

I hadn't eaten since yesterday morning. I missed lunch, because the attack occurred right before my lunch bell rang. And I slept right through what wouldv'e been dinnertime.

It was midafternoon I had guessed, so it's been a little over 24 hours since I had eaten. I scrunched up my nose and turned, wiping my mouth and trekking down the street again, scanning the area for any signs of life.

What terrified me the most was how deserted and dead the town looked, no matter how I tried I couldn't find any sort of sign of life.

It completely sickened me, everything. How someone could just order an attack on an innocent city. No. It wasn't just our city.

Carla said it was the whole country.

My heart dropped into my stomach. I needed to get back inside the school. I didn't feel safe out there. School seemed safer. Like home.

Even if it did have one of my worst enemies in there.


End file.
